The question is, why is wine the only exception to the notion that all
food products should be labelled with a list of ingredients.

It appears that, in Europe at least, there are over 400 substances
that you can add to wine, many of them not very savoury.

I understand that the consumer is not always able to undestand the
meaning of these lists of ingredients. For example, many look for food
products that contain "natural flavouring" as opposed to "artificial
flavouring", thinking that "natural" means, for example, that an
apricot drink actually has had a flavour added that was directly
derived from the fruit. Nothing is further from the truth of course,
natural flavouring is a chemical made from precursors that are
obtained from natural sources, but it is an artificial flavour.

Some countries oblige wineries to mention that a wine may "contain
sulfites", but no quantities are given.

Is it desirable to know what went into a wine? I think so. I have
spent enough time around wineries to realize that in many even
reputable places all kinds of things are done to wine to make it fit
into a market mold. Acidification, sugaring, enzymes, correctors,
treatments using potassium cyanide or ferric chloride and other nasty
things, flavours, wood chips, water, etc..

Of course, there are also wineries that are proud to use a lighter
approach, at most using some sulfites before bottling to protect the
wine.

What do you think? List of ingredient and procedures? Or not?

Mike



Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France
email link http://www.tommasi.org/mymail